Fork Seals.. Has anyone tried this?

Most of us don't have special tools called drifts. I use to but all my tools were stolen years ago. Meth Heads. The snap ring pliers can't be used on some fork bottoms. Tapping in the seal like the bolt pattern on a wheel, then using the old seal up side down to seat it (as long as the old one isn't munged up too bad) should work fine. If there are scratches on the fork tubes due to grit, all bets are off. Best to replace them.
Steve

An impact wrench will do wonders for that allen bolt at the bottom of the fork. I resist buying new tools because then I have to store them somewhere. Then last year i needed to buy one to remove some nuts on a motor I was disassembling. I bought it used for about $40 and the nuts came right off. The impact wrench does the same thing with the allen bolts. No struggling as long as the fork cap is still on with the springs inside. The bolt comes out with little effort.

And as Tyrell said, some pvc plastic pipe makes it a lot easier to install fork seals and the pipe only costs a couple of dollars. You only need about a foot of pvc pipe. I forget the diameter but it's just a little larger than 36mm inside diameter for the older KZ1000's and KZ900's.

You can whittle one out of a wood block too. I even used a ball cock rocker I had laying around. A PVC slip connector would be great but who expects to need one that size?
Steve

Thank you for all the replies. They're all noted. Maybe I'll make a Sunday project out of it. It's not like there's a game to watch on tv that day. And my tires are properly inflated too... oh wait. Wrong subject.

That's my Pearl that I'm getting back on the road. This Texas weather is amazing.

Ok.. so I plan on doing my fork seals tomorrow. I've been going over the manual for a bit. Seems very simple. After my last carb jet incident ( kzrider.com/forum/3-carburetor/597163-oo...-this-fixable#661655 ), I think this should go a little more smoothly... hopefully.

I was gonna ask for tips, but I guess I got everything I need to know on the above posts. Normally, how long does this take? This is the final think to take care of before getting back on the bike after a year or two. Well, besides the oil change and tune up stuff.

LH

At a leasurly pace it would take me two hours. But I've done it many times before. Just don't hurry things.
Steve

What do you guys think? Is this how you do your fork seals?

I like his driver idea. I put the seal in first then slide the fork tube in with a little oil on the tube.
Steve

Two questions:

1. Does anyone know the sizes of the fork gators for my bike? 1983 KZ550 M1. Maybe I should replace them. I wouldn't mind just using a dust seal boot instead of gators.

2. What is the speed ratio for my bike? Wait, I'm sure that's in my manual.

Anyway, Dime City Cycles has a good deal on both. Why not start making her prettier?

1981 KZ650-CSR. upper tubes = 36mm & lower tubes = 56mm.
Your bike uses the same seals as my CSR, so your tubes probably measure the same. ???
I looked at some Spectre 550 forks on eebbaayy & I would guess the CSR dust boots would fit. just a guess, though. Most fork gaiters fit a range of bikes & the ones I've seen for the CSR are over-sized, so the fitment might not be that great.

I never like them on a street bike. The dust boots just seem cleaner to me.
Steve

650ed wrote: The single most important tool you need is the Kawasaki Service Manual. If you don't already have one you really should get one. They normally are available on eBay; be sure to get one for your bike's exact year & model. It will give you detailed instructions, torque values, etc. on everything you need to know to work on your bike. Believe me when I say no one has ever regretted buying one. They are worth their weight in gold. Ed

Absolutely! I second this. Same is true of the other Japanese bike makers. They spend tens of thousands of hours building those manulas so that mechanics around the world can repair the machines they make. Very thorough and worthwhile.